The effect was electrical. Everybody in court was convulsed with laughter. The judge put down his pen, threw himself back in his chair, and laughed until he shook like a piece of _blancmange_. As soon as he could recover himself, he asked, in tones tremulous with suppressed mirth, "Are you satisfied, Mr. M.?" Mr. M. was completely nonplussed; could make no defence; tried to "rub it off" by delivering himself of a homily upon the degradation it was to the Bar of England that some of its members should be capable of lending themselves to the promotion of "Bubble Companies;" but it would not do. He lost his temper; he lost his case; and it was many years before he heard the last of it. Some friends of mine had been directors of this company, and I had a good deal to do with winding it up. Smith's bill was a curiosity. Two items in it are probably unsurpassed in the whole records of the taxing masters' offices. They were as follows: L s. d. "Attending, making inquiries, at the houses of eight hundred applicants for shares, and twelve hundred referees, including calls made at the residences of various tradesmen, tax collectors, and others in their respective neighbourhoods--say, two thousand attendances, at six and eightpence each 666 13 4 "Twelve hundred letters to referees, at five shillings each 300 0 0 It is needless to say that the greater part of these charges was disallowed. I met him one morning on the platform of the old Duddeston Row Station. We were both going to London. He proposed that we should ride together, but as I had taken a second-class ticket and he a first, I pointed out the difficulty. "Oh, never mind," said he; "come in here, they never charge extra for any friends of mine;" so I was persuaded to go in his carriage. We were alone, and he kept me laughing the whole of the way. On arriving at Camden Town, where the tickets were then collected, I took from my purse the amount of the excess fare, so as to be in readiness for the collector. As soon as he appeared at the window, Smith set up an unearthly scream; put on a most extraordinary expression of face; and feigned madness. This behaviour so frightened the poor collector, that, keeping his eye fixed upon Smith, he mechanically held out his hand; took my ticket without looking at it; and hurried from the carriage, evidently congratulating himself upon a lucky escape. Smith occasionally got into trouble with the "powers that be;" and in one case, where he was obstinate, an "attachment" was issued, under which he was confined for a few days in Coventry Gaol. He became, in a day or two, the life and soul of the place. I was shown a letter written by him from prison to the opposing solicitor, asking him to go over to arrange terms of settlement. "You can come at any time," wrote Smith; "you'll be sure to find me at home."